Storm

 3/15- Live Oak FL

   Today was a surprising day. We headed out this morning with no idea where we were going to end up. Almost as soon as we left the campground we saw signs for a state park. This Ichetucknee Spring state park. I knew this would be good because as soon as we got out of the van there were signs for a free pancake breakfast with the rangers. Naturally we took advantage of this perk. This state park has a river running through it and it is mostly a tubing kayaking kind of park. The parking lot was filled with people in bathing suits heading for the river. We decided to check it out and after looking at it decided to rent a kayak. The water is crystal clear and is spring fed so the water stays 72 degrees all the time. We paddled upstream a couple of miles and then drifted down with the current. You see these huge fish in the river called alligator gars. Alayne did get to see an alligator as there was a 6 footer basking in the sun on the bank. There must have been several hundred turtles sunning themselves on logs all along the river. This is a very popular place as we saw by the traffic coming in. 

    After we got back to shore ( I was a captain again for a bit ) we drove up to the northern end of the river and walked to the spring. This is an underwater cave that is 65 feet deep and the water just bubbles to the surface here. They allow divers in and of course there were plenty of people swimming in it. It was maybe 50 feet across the pool. 

    We hung here to try and stay out of the storm that is sweeping across the country and I am deeply saddened by all the deaths. We are not out of the woods yet so we decided to anchor for the night at the local Walmart. I figured if we get a warning we will just head inside the brick building and hope for the best. The tail end of the front is supposed to sweep over us sometime Sunday morning. 

    Meanwhile this place is incredibly busy and noisy. Oh well I guess that’s the price we pay. 

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